@Marvin give me a rundown on flow vs deployment versioning.

In Prefect, the concepts of flow and deployment versioning are crucial to organize and manage workflows effectively. While specific information on versioning differences between flows and deployments is somewhat scattered, here is a summary based on the documentation: - Flow versioning: Refers to the version of the flow's code itself. Typically, flow versioning follows semantic versioning principles (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH), where updates to the flow's code that involve new features, bug fixes, or breaking changes would increment the appropriate version segment. - Deployment versioning: Is about managing different iterations of flow deployments. Deployments are a Prefect 2.0 concept that encompasses more than just the flow's code; it includes schedules, parameters, infrastructure requirements, and other operational settings. Each deployment can be tagged and has its own metadata, which is inherited by the flow runs created from it, aiding in organization and filtering in the UI. Here are some key points from the documentation: 1. Metadata and Tags: You can use metadata such as versions and tags to organize files produced from your workflows and to associate flow run's tags with the metadata of a job it orchestrates. This metadata is available during execution through Prefect runtime (source). 2. Prefect's Versioning Scheme: Prefect follows a versioning pattern of MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, where major versions indicate significant changes, minor versions might introduce new concepts or alter existing ones substantially, and patch versions are typically for bug fixes and minor improvements. Suffixes like

rc

,

a

, or

b

may indicate pre-release versions (source). 3. Creating Deployments: You can use the

flow.to_deployment

method to create deployment objects and

serve

to register them with the API. Multiple deployments can be executed and scheduled independently as long as they share the same Python environment (source). It's important to use the versioning system to manage changes, ensure consistency, and track the behavior changes in flows and deployments over time.

@Marvin for each flow and deployment. give me a list of attributes that would warrant a change in version

The documentation does not provide explicit lists of attributes that warrant a change in version for a flow or a deployment, but based on standard software versioning practices and Prefect's conventions, here's an inferred list: ### Flow Version Change Attributes: - Changes to the flow's logic: Including new tasks, altering the order of tasks, or removing tasks. - Modifications to task behavior: If the behavior or side effects of a task change. - Changes to dependencies: Adding, removing, or updating Python package dependencies. - Error handling revisions: Changes to the way errors are handled or retried within the flow. - Performance improvements: Optimizations that significantly improve the flow's performance. ### Deployment Version Change Attributes: - Scheduling changes: Any alterations to the deployment's schedule or triggers. - Parameter updates: Changes to default parameters or adding/removing parameters. - Infrastructure adjustments: Modifications to infrastructure configurations, like compute resources or execution environment. - Labels update: Adding or changing labels that are used for organizing or filtering runs. - Block updates: Changes to associated blocks such as storage or secrets. - Enhancements: Minor non-breaking updates that improve the deployment without fundamental changes. In general, following the semantic versioning scheme as documented (source): - Major version: is increased for significant and widespread changes that might be breaking. - Minor version: is increased for introducing or altering concepts in a way that changes how Prefect can be used or removing deprecated features. - Patch version: is increased for non-breaking enhancements to existing features, bug fixes, or minor functionality additions. It is also important to note that breaking changes should be avoided whenever possible, and when necessary, proper deprecation warnings and transition periods should be provided.

@Marvin ive only found mention of flow versions in the docs. it does not figure anywhere else in the cloud. as a flow is really tied to a deployment, is the latter really the only relevant version?

Yes, in the context of Prefect Cloud and the management of workflows, the versioning that is most relevant and prominently featured is that of the deployments. While the concept of a "flow version" might apply to the underlying code or logic of your flow, what Prefect Cloud and its infrastructure tracks and manages are deployments. Each deployment represents a packaged version of a flow, along with its associated parameters, schedule, infrastructure requirements, and operational settings. The deployment version is what gets executed, scheduled, and monitored in the Prefect Cloud. This shift towards deployment-focused versioning aligns with the transition to Prefect 2.0 (Orion), where deployments are first-class citizens in the orchestration platform. The version of a deployment matters because it encapsulates all relevant information needed to execute the workflow reliably and as intended. It's also possible that the codebase and logic of flows evolve over time, but these changes become operationally significant only when they're encapsulated within a new deployment version. Hence, while flow versions are important during the development phase, in terms of orchestration and execution within Prefect Cloud, it is the deployment version that is directly managed and used.

@Marvin given the state of the prefect docs at https://docs.prefect.io/latest/concepts/flows/#flow-settings would you say the docs properly communicate this?

Based on the content available in the Prefect documentation, the distinction between flow versioning and deployment versioning is not entirely explicit. The focus seems to be more on the capabilities and configuration options for flows (Flow settings), rather than on how flow revisions are tracked through versioning. While the documentation provides guidance on semantic versioning and indicates that everything has a version (Prefect's versioning scheme), it seems to lean towards a general understanding of versioning software products rather than specifically addressing how to version flows and deployments in Prefect Cloud. Additionally, while the concept of metadata and tags on deployments is outlined, suggesting that versions help organize files produced from workflows (Deployments documentation), the documents do not clearly communicate the significance of deployment version over flow version. It might be beneficial for users, especially those with concerns about versioning strategies for their workflows, if the documentation provided clearer guidance on when and how to increment versions for flows and deployments and the operational implications of these changes within the Prefect Cloud environment.

@Marvin is there a way to reference this discussion directly in an issue in the prefect github issues?

If you'd like to reference this discussion about flow versioning in relation to the documentation and Prefect Cloud, you can mention it in a new issue on the Prefect GitHub repository. There is a related open issue on deployment versioning (#10923) which addresses concerns about uniquely identifying deployments by name and version. You could use this existing issue as a reference point and expand upon it by including thoughts and suggestions raised in this discussion. By doing so, you'd be adding valuable user feedback to the conversation about versioning within Prefect, which could help the development team understand the community's needs better and potentially lead to improvement of the documentation and platform features. Here is a possible outline for your issue: - Title: Clarification on Flow vs. Deployment Versioning in Documentation - Description: Discuss the current state of the Prefect documentation regarding flow and deployment versioning, referencing the discussions here about the operational focus on deployment versioning within Prefect Cloud. - Suggestion: Propose updates to the documentation that would explicitly differentiate between flow and deployment versioning and offer guidance on versioning strategies for users of Prefect Cloud. - Link to related discussion: Include links to this conversation and related GitHub issues like #10923. Remember to follow the GitHub issue template provided by PrefectHQ for consistency and to ensure your issue is clear and actionable.